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star trek - What was the reason for using a new ship instead of The Enterprise in ST:VOY?


Story & cast of almost all TV series & movies of Star Trek are based on the Enterprise(if the storyline is based on a Starship). The exception is Star Trek: Voyager (ST:DS9 was based on a Space Station so doesn't count as a starship storyline). Why did they drop the Enterprise and introduce Voyager in Star Trek: Voyager?


Please, don't tell: Its because series name was Star Trek: Voyager. My question: Why that series with story & cast around a starship other than Enterprise? The whole TV series could be launched around Enterprise again without any glitch in story..



Answer



Short answer: The producers said that they needed a new concept


Background: When working out what the premise would be for a new series, the producers decided they did not want to duplicate what had been done. From both Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation there was a total of 10 years of stories about a starship on a "normal" mission where it went around and explored "strange new worlds" and dealt with the Klingons and Romulans. (And the Cardassians had been dealt with in both ST:TNG and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.)


One of the toughest things to do on a weekly TV series is to continually come up with new and fresh ideas for stories. This is the same in many fields. For example, I've had minsters tell me one of the toughest parts of their job is to come up with a new topic for a sermon every week. At first it sounds like there's a lot of freedom, but after a while, it's a challenge.



When starting a new series while ST:TNG was on, the producers went in another direction and set the series on a space station, which created not only a totally different setting, but also gave them many new story possibilities that they could not explore with a ship that was supposed to be exploring and patrolling and travelling around from place to place.


When it came time for a third new series (Star Trek: Voyager), they had the same problem: Set it back on the Enterprise, under normal circumstances, and it's going to be quite difficult to tell fresh stories for another seven years. Plus, there were the movies to contend with (which were now about the Enterprise-D). If they continued with the Enterprise, they'd either have to go back to the same crew (which would be, essentially, the same show as before), or provide a rationale for why a new Enterprise with a new crew was now being featured.


The producers needed a new direction to take a new show, so they decided they wanted a ship that was beyond the reach of the Federation. At that point, you have two possibilities: 1) A starship on an extended exploration mission, which is close to what's been done, or 2) A starship that is lost, without a crew or supplies or preparation for such a mission, trying to find the way back to the Federation.


This kind of setting provided them with possibilities for many new stories that could not be told in the setting of the Enterprise, as the flagship of the fleet, representing the best of the best and doing "routine" Starfleet things.


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